Portsudan — The Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS), Burae Siddig, met on Monday at CBoS branch in Portsudan with the General Managers of banks, in the presence of the two CBoS Deputy Governors, the official spokesman for the Sudanese Banks Union and the media outlets.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan spoke about the importance and reasons for replacing the currency at this moment, the procedural steps and the time frame for the replacement process, indicating that replacing the currency is a national concern and contributes to supporting the state's efforts aimed at stabilizing the national economy, stressing that the replacement process came under exceptional and complex circumstances, revealing that the replacement period will be during December 10-23.
Siddiq pointed out that comparing with the previous experiences of replacement, this period is considered sufficient and takes into account the country's circumstances. He stressed that after the end of the time period, the replaced currency (1000 and 500 pounds) will no longer be cleared of liability in the states targeted for replacement, while the rest of the states will be replaced whenever the state decides to do so, noting that the currency in circulation there will remain cleared of liability and circulated within its borders.
On the other hand, the Governor of the Central Bank stressed the importance of banks facilitating and simplifying the procedures for opening bank accounts for the public and achieving the integration of digital transformation and integrating citizens into financial inclusion to enjoy banking services, urging citizens to take advantage of the replacement period by opening accounts for them in banks to deposit their money, considering that the presence of money in banks achieves mutual benefit for the citizen and banks, as the citizens guarantee the safety of their money and dispose of it by withdrawal or transfer upon request, while banks benefit from the availability of deposits and liquidity on their side.
The Governor also spoke about the link between banking applications and its importance, particularly after the availability of the linking platform, indicating that the efforts of the Central Bank to link banks to the National Payment System are nearing completion. He also reassured the banks that the year 2025 will witness major banking transformations led by the Central Bank, promising that the Central Bank will support the banks that supported the state in its ordeal and bore the risks of war for the sake of the homeland, adding that Sudan will not forget their stand for the Sudanese citizen. He concluded his speech with the strategic portfolio of commodities, explaining that it is not limited to the Central Bank of Sudan and the Bank of Khartoum, but rather the door to participation in the capital of the portfolio is available to all banks, and investors from foreign and Sudanese companies can invest in the activities of the portfolio, indicating that the role of the portfolio is not only to import goods, but also to provide foreign currency to importers to avoid resorting to the parallel market.
For his part, CBoS Deputy Governor Salahuddin Sheikh Khadir said that the replacement decision is a state issue to address the effects of the war and is not typical as it will be done through bank accounts. He directed banks to address any problems facing the opening of accounts, stressing the need for them to contribute to the awareness role of opening accounts, recalling that previous replacement experiences were a technical matter carried out by the Central Bank and it bears its consequences, but the matter now represents a state concern, so many regulatory, security and service bodies contribute to it. Khadir stressed that obstacles are likely to occur, but everyone must overcome them in order for the replacement process to succeed, as the army is fighting on the battlefields for the homeland and we must support these efforts by maintaining the stability of the country's economy.
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He concluded his speech by saying that the Central Bank deals with banks with full neutrality, and freedom of banking and competition is available to all. For their part, the general managers of the banks participating in the meeting confirmed their full readiness to make the replacement process a success, and raised some inquiries and discussed some topics to ensure facilitating the opening of accounts for the public, and linking between bank applications via the electronic platform, in order to activate banking applications in order to serve customers, taking into account the procedures for compliance with combating money laundering and terrorist financing through the banks' compliance officers and auxiliary units, and extending official working hours during the replacement period, emphasizing the importance of customers opening bank accounts, with setting a time limit for transfers via the "Siraj" system to ensure that customers' transferred funds arrive at the required speed. BH/BH
